KANSAS CITY, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Kan., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

Fernando Diaz, 43, of Kansas City, Kan., was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

On Oct. 4, 2011, Diaz pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in June 2010. Diaz admitted that he was offered $1,000 to provide a place where co-conspirators could unload a large amount of methamphetamine from within hidden storage compartments of a vehicle. A Drug Enforcement Administration agent followed the conspirators as Diaz led them to a residence in Kansas City, Mo., where their vehicle was parked in the garage. When agents searched the garage, they found a paper bag containing five similarly-wrapped bundles of methamphetamine. Inside a hidden compartment of their vehicle were an additional five bundles of methamphetamine, for a total amount of more than four kilograms of methamphetamine.

Co-defendant Alfredo Gonzalez, 36, of Highland, Calif., was sentenced to 43 months in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy. Co-defendant Pedro Parra-Cardenas, 42, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kansas City, Kan., pleaded guilty to possessing false immigration documents and awaits sentencing.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin G. Davids and Trey Alford. It was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

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